


why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

by their_dark_materials



Category: Emmerdale, Roblivion - Fandom, robron
Genre: And Seb and Rebecca, And some Alex, But all for plot purposes, But not coming out exactly, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-Canon, Protective Robert Sugden, Some mentions of Gabby, Supportive Aaron Dingle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-20 18:38:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13723659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/their_dark_materials/pseuds/their_dark_materials
Summary: The second the words sink in, Robert goes from 0 to livid, fast.“So she outed her? In front of everybody?”Or, where Liv reacts to the events of her birthday party, and Aaron and Robert try and help her (and each other) through it. [Set after Liv's birthday episode.]





	why'd you have to go and make things so complicated?

**AARON**

 

“Experiment.”

It’s that first word that sticks in his mind; loud and large and unable to be contained. It’s a button that’s been pressed and now there’s a klaxon blaring as a thousand thoughts run through his brain as he watches what _should_ be his sister’s best mate completely betray her.

_Liv? Experimenting? Jacob?_

He’s shaken out of it by Liv’s pleading, “Gabby… Please. Don’t.”

He springs into action, ordering the other girl’s immediate exit. Because he can’t stand to watch this happen. Not with _that_ look on Liv’s face. Not before _he’s_ had a chance to speak to her first. Not with all these people just _watching_.

Thankfully his mum is already acting on it, but it’s not before Gabby reaches into her arsenal of hurtful moments for yet _another_ twist of her knife.

“She _kissed_ me. What’s _that_ about Liv?”

Gabby deploys those words with the kind of callous nonchalance that only a teenager could.

And then she’s being dragged out of here by Bernice, while Aaron’s left holding the pieces of what should be Liv’s big night.

He can feel his mum’s eyes flash toward him, but his main focus is his baby sister.

He can’t see her face, but he doesn’t need to to know what it feels like when someone throws those words at you, long before you might be ready for them to see the light. He reaches for her arm, an attempt to soothe or comfort her. But she shrugs it off and speeds up the spiral staircase.

Suddenly Liv’s odd behaviour these last few days make sense and his heart just _aches_. Because he more than anyone knows how hard this process is — not to mention the doubt and denial and _confusion_ that comes with it. (If it even _is_ a “process” at this point.)

With that in mind, he acts.

“Alright everyone, the party’s over,” he calls out, shifting the attention onto him, without any tact or charm whatsoever. “So, you know, _do one_.”

People are slowly turning to look at him, the _gay_ older brother, like somehow _that_ would explain whatever just happened. Suddenly he can't wait for all of them to just _get out_.

In fact, he can’t wait _any_ longer. So now it’s _him_ bounding up those stairs, his mind only concerned with the clearly hurt 16-year-old who needs him. Behind him he can hear Paddy step up to the plate, echoing his words.

“You heard him! Party’s over! Thanks for coming!”

:::::

When he gets to Liv’s door, it’s (understandably) locked. But he still persists, knocking on it gently.

“Liv, it’s me…  Aaron,” he says quietly into the edge of the door. And then he’s struck by a complete loss of words. It’s funny, but he never thought _he’d_ be the one dealing with a teen who’s questioning her sexuality. So he’s currently completely unprepared for what comes _next_. But he still gives it a try because he can’t just stand here and say _nothing_. “I know you probably don’t _want_ to talk about whatever Gabby said, but I just… I just want you to know it’s okay. It’s alright if you’re just _experimentin’_.”

He gets no response, which is fair enough because he didn’t think he would. So he decides to just close on what he wants he wants her to know most of all, “If, and _when_ , you _are_ ready to talk… I’m here.”

And then, for good measure, “I love you.”

:::::

The only people left downstairs are his mum, Paddy, Gerry, and _Alex_ , who until now, Aaron had completely forgotten about. He holds in a sigh of frustration.

“How’s she doing?” His mum asks. She’s standing in the kitchen with Paddy, having just put the kettle on.

“I dunno.” He tells her honestly. “She wouldn’t open her door.”

“Well, you know, _teenage girls_.”

She means for it to be a joke, but it falls flat because _this_ teenage girl has a _very_ good reason to be upset. And _on_ her 16th birthday too. Aaron _sighs_.

“I’m sure Liv won’t want to see all of _us_ just standing around,” Paddy states, cutting the grim silence that’s currently blanketing all of them. He turns towards Chas now, “So why don’t _we_ go and give her some space?”

“Good idea,” his mother concedes, stepping forward to give Aaron a kiss on the cheek.

“Give her our love,” she says, before pulling him into a tight hug, during which she whispers, “ _Good luck_.”

Letting go of him, she reaches out and links hands with Paddy as they exit.

Aaron turns towards Alex and Gerry who are both sitting on the couch.

But then, in a night that is _already_ full of surprises, the youngest man graces them with another. “All that dancin’s made me knackered. Think I’m gonna just go to sleep.”

He gives them both a quiet, almost solemn nod goodnight — a _big_ change from his usual enthusiastic hollers — and heads upstairs.

And then there were _two_.

::::: 

It’s wrong, he knows it, but even the _sight_ of Alex right now is proving stressful. 

Because he’s sitting there with this gloomy expression on his face and Aaron’s not entirely sure if it’s because of what’s happened to Liv, or if he’s just back to focusing on his own professional predicament. (To be fair, he does understand _why_ the Doctor would be more concerned about one than the other, but right now his favourite family member is in emotional distress and Aaron kind of needs _that_ to come first.)

He sighs again and goes to join him on the couch. Though he’s barely settled in his seat — a good few inches away from the other man — when he remembers that _this_ was where he was sitting on Valentine’s Day. As the memory of what _almost_ happened that night plays in his mind, temporarily distracting him, he can’t help but feel another surge of annoyance at Alex and his penchant for repeatedly turning up anytime he needs to be alone so he can actually process his feelings. 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Alex tells him, interrupting yet again. “Liv’s tough, she’ll get past this.”

Aaron now looks at the other man. _Really_ looks at him. Because he cannot believe the empty platitudes he’s spouting like it's just any other day. 

Yes, Liv is tough, and yes, she probably _will_ get past this but it’s upsetting that this even _happened_. That’s when Aaron realises that Alex doesn’t _quite_ know Liv.

In fact, he hasn't really gotten to know her, one of the biggest parts of Aaron's life, at all. 

When Liv had been weird on Valentine’s Day, he’d brushed it off. When she’d _continued_ acting strange yesterday, he’d put it down to her simply being a teenager falling in and out of love. Only that’s _never_ really been the case with her, has it?

Liv may be a teen, but she’s also _his_ sister, which means she was never ever going to be “typical.” _None_ of the Dingles are. And that’s what Liv is now. A Dingle.

He tries again, a small part of him needing to know that Alex _can_ get this. “But she shouldn’t _have_ to, should she?”

“I know it’s rough, being outed like that,” Alex says at least acknowledging _some_ of Aaron’s concerns. “I’m _gay_ and I work in A &E, so I’m more than aware that the world isn’t always so kind. But times have changed now and young people are lot more accepting. Plus she’s _clearly_ got friends and family who care about her.”

“ _Gabby_ was her friend,” Aaron points out, not bothering to conceal his annoyance. “And look where _that_ got her.”

Alex remains quiet, clearly unsure of what he can say in response that _would_ be comforting.

Thankfully, he puts them both out of their misery when he says, “You’re clearly dealing with something big, why don’t I stay over at a mate’s and maybe we can grab lunch tomorrow?”

“Uh, yeah,” Aaron agrees distractedly, giving him a nod.

Alex gets up, gives him a kiss on the cheek and then he departs, leaving Aaron sitting on the couch by himself.

And then there was _one._

:::::

 

**LIV**

 

She’s had nightmares before. Little things, like showing up at school only to learn there’s an exam she hasn’t studied for, or when she was much younger, that she’d lost her mother on a crowded street and was unable to find her again.

None of that compares to _now_.

Because right now it feels like the world is spinning out of her control and she’ll never breathe properly again.

Because Gabby somehow got it into her head that Liv and _Jacob_ might be seeing each other — even though she _literally_ told her best friend she didn’t know what a crush even _felt_ like.

Because now _everybody_ knows about all those little questions she’s been housing deep inside her heart, trying in her own way to figure out the answers. (She’s _wanted_ to go ask Aaron, she really has. Especially after her chat with Belle. But she’s seen the way he looked at Robert, maybe not Alex as much, and she knows that he probably wouldn’t get it. How _could_ he? _She_ can hardly wrap her feelings around it.) 

Because now there’s yet _another_ person in her life she can’t trust. Not _really_. First her dad. Then Robert. Now Gabby.

 _With friends like these, who needs enemies?_ Her own mind snarks at her amidst the tears and the pain.

She sniffles and curls up tighter on the bed, hoping the action will soothe the raw ache that’s begun to spread in her chest. It does a little.

She feels her heart start to slow down a little, and her stomach begin to unclench, only now there’s a couple of knocks followed by a voice carrying through her door.

_Aaron._

If she didn’t know, she would now, seeing as he’s _introducing_ himself?

She snorts out a chuckle at her older brother’s awkwardness, before sitting up and wiping away any tears. She knows he wasn’t expecting to have to broach anything like this with her — especially not today after he went through _so_ much effort to make this night perfect for her — but bless him, he’s still trying.

“I know you probably don’t _want_ to talk about whatever Gabby said, but I just… I just want you to know it’s okay. It’s _alright_ if you’re experimenting.”

Again, she _wants_ to open the door, she really does. But he’s right in that the last thing she wants to do is talk about what happened tonight when it’s still fresh in both their memories. Doing so would just remind her that it was _real_.

“If, and _when_ , you _are_ ready to talk… I’m here.”

That’s followed by a very heartfelt, “I love you.”

He can’t have known this would happen, but his latest words set off a round of fresh tears on her part as she finds herself unable to deal with just how _understanding_ and _supportive_ he’s being about the whole thing. Even as she hides away and refuses to communicate. (It’s not like she expected anything _less_ from Aaron Dingle, Best Brother In the World. It’s just that she isn’t prepared for it now that he is offering. And that just adds to her internal agonising.)

 _It weren’t supposed to be like this_ , her mind insists as she hears him walk away from her door, his footsteps hesitant and heavy. She isn’t sure just exactly _how_ it was supposed to go down (or even _what_ was supposed to go down), just that it wasn’t supposed to be like _this._

She lets out a slow breath and feels a familiar desire comes over her.

 _I need a drink_.

Only all the alcohol is downstairs, with Aaron. And probably Alex and Gerry.

Liv lets out a low moan at the frustration of it all. Then she remembers those bottles of booze she and Gabby managed to stash at the Pavilion, just in case her little meeting with Jacob did come to fruition.

It’s a dumb idea — even she can see that in her current state — but something about it has galvanised her and given her the strength to actually pull herself together and climb out of bed and head for her bedroom window.

One of the perks of being a tomboy without many friends who constantly moves around a lot, is that you spend a lot of time in parks and get _very_ good at climbing trees. And if you’re Liv, you know to ask for the room with the window closest to the tall oak they’ve got growing in their back garden.

Any guilt she might be feeling about not talking to Aaron is easily outweighed by her desire to forget this night ever even happened.

::::: 

It’s chilly. But she doesn’t quite notice until she’s halfway to the Pavilion when she remembers shrugging off that _amazing_ hoodie Aaron had gifted her with that morning. Only now it’s too late to turn back and she’s stuck reliving the memory of her having shrugged it off in the living room before the big tattoo “reveal.” She shudders at the thought of something she’d loved so much being tainted by tonight’s awful events. (Aaron had said that she’d picked it out, but it was actually all really his doing. The only thing she’d really had to do was agree with his tastes when he’d sent her a couple of photo options, all of which proved to be spot on.)

 _Just a few more minutes_ , her mind reminds her as she picks up her pace, rubbing her upper arms upon and down in an effort to warm up. The thin maroon lace of the top Gabby had picked out for her (despite her initial protests), is doing nothing to provide any form of warmth.

 _You’ll warm up once you have a couple of drinks in ya,_ she tells herself.

::::: 

The door’s open, as it always is, and she quickly finds the light switch and heads to the corner where there’s a pile of newspapers and other old junk. Shifting the strategically placed mess to a side a little, she fishes out the mostly full bottle of vodka they’d swiped from Sandy, who probably won’t be noticing it anytime soon.

She unscrews the lid and takes a big swig, the clear alcohol rushing down her throat and leaving a bitter, but comforting taste in her mouth.

 _Happy sweet 16 to me_.

::::: 

Eventually, she’s drunk her way to the bottom of the bottle, and she feels ensconced in a wave of warmth that radiates through her from the inside out, pulsating through her all the way from her face to her toes. The events of this night have now (thankfully) become a bit of a distant dream, the tipsy feeling in her head granting her the space she’d been seeking hours ago.

 _Who cares what she thinks?_ Liv tells herself as she works to crawl to her feet. _Gabby’s a stupid cow anyway. And a bad friend._

Suitably bolstered and finally ready to head home and crawl into her bed, she gets to her feet, wobbling a little bit as she does so. Still, she manages to steady herself. And make her way out.

::::: 

As she makes her way home, Liv is overcome with another wave of warmth, the heat building up under her skin, as the cold night air does nothing to help it. She frowns, having gone from too cold to warm to too hot.

She can feel the flush in her face, her cheeks probably the bright red they _always_ turn when she’s had too much to drink. She tugs at her stupid collar again, her fingers pulling against the lace. It does nothing to help. Neither does her fanning at her face with her hands.

 _Why can’t_ anything _just go right for once?_ She wonders, her mood starting to go downhill now. All she’d wanted was a drama-free birthday with friends and family. Why did Gabby have to go and make things so complicated, always talking about boys and her feelings and _Jacob_?

Liv lets out a groan.

 _Jacob_.

He’s the only one that’s really been a mate to her through all this, and for that she wants to stop by his place and thank him before she heads home. Only she has to kind of deal with this slight overheating problem first.

Luckily, the answer appears right in front of her in the form of the footbridge over the river leading away from the village green.

Maybe she can go for a quick swim… She vaguely remembers someone — possibly Belle — telling her that it wasn’t too deep. But _that_ doesn’t matter. She’s one of the strongest swimmers in her class. Another perk of being a tomboy who moves around and barely has friends. You get good at activities that require no other people.

So she makes her way to the water’s edge. Even though it’s night, the water looks still, cool, and inviting, everything she needs to temper the warmth still gathering under her skin. She smiles in relief and bends her knees, preparing to dive in.

Just as she’s about to jump, an arm shoots out and grabs her.

:::::

 

**ROBERT**

 

It’s just past 10:00PM when he finally gets done with all the work he’d had scheduled for the day. Finally ready to relax, he goes and plops himself down on the couch next to Vic.

“What are we watching?” He asks, not actually curious, just eager to speak to someone who isn’t a newborn baby.

“Not sure… I was thinking maybe _I’m a Celeb_?” Vic replies, still not having changed out of her chef’s clothes. “Seb go down alright?”

“Yeah, actually got stuff done tonight,” he tells her, kind of proud of everything he’s managed to accomplish for the day.

“That’s nice…” She tells him, her focus on the TV. “You know, you’re getting better at this ‘bedtime’ thing.”

Robert rolls his eyes. He’s not quite at the point where he knows what he’s doing when it comes to parenting — and he’s not sure if he’ll _ever_ get there — but it’s still nice to hear that from someone who’d had to put up with that first week of him absolutely struggling to put his son to bed. He _still_ doesn’t understand how Aaron doesn’t seem to have any problems doing that. (There was a _brief_ moment of sleeplessness-induced insanity where he’d been _convinced_ Seb was trying to _Parent Trap_ him and his ex-husband together. But then he’d remembered what Victoria had told him about his _looking_ for something between them, and Aaron’s mixed signals lately and decided that maybe his months-old son _wasn’t_ that devious. Maybe _he_ just wanted that to be the case.)

“Thanks,” he responds, moving to keep his feet up on their coffee table.

His ankle comes into contact with a stack of envelopes. “What’s that?”

“Oh. Some mail came in for ya,” Vic tells him, looking over at what he’s referring to.

Eager to knock off yet _another_ thing off his almost-impressive list of finished tasks, Robert reaches forward and grabs the pile.

He slowly flips through each of them, before finally stopping on the last one. He keeps the rest down on the coffee table and starts slowly ripping at the edges to see what’s inside. As he manages to get it open, he catches a glimpse of what’s inside. Something sinks a little in his stomach as he remembers what it is…

Concert tickets.

For him and _Liv_.

He’d ordered them _months_ ago. Before everything had happened. In all the turmoil with Rebecca and Aaron and his marriage imploding, he’d forgotten about them, and it appears that they’d only _just_ been dispatched now that the concert’s officially a month away.

It’s just another reminder of what today is: Liv’s birthday. (Like he’d forget after _last_ year.)

He’d actually woken up this morning, with that knowledge fresh in his brain. Because while there’s a lot of things you can accuse Robert Sugden of, forgetting birthdays _isn’t_ one of them. (In fact, in the lead up to Aaron’s he hadn’t been able to stop his automatic internal countdown as it had kicked off, causing him to want to do _something_ to help celebrate it, but of course, he had been _more_ than aware that it wasn’t his place anymore.)

Just like this. As much as he wants to be there with Liv as she celebrates her special day, he knows he can’t.

And _yet…_

He’d hate for her to miss out on this opportunity simply because _he’s_ the one responsible for it. Not when everything’s all planned and paid for. If anything she can take Aaron, which would actually be advisable since the concert is all the way in London, as is the hotel he’d booked them a three-night stay in.

With that, he makes up his mind. He’s simply going to go hand them over to Aaron. That way, _he_ can be the one to present them to her. (Possibly even frame it as _his_ doing.) Robert snorts at the irony of helping make concert plans for yet _another_ member of the Dingle family. Because that is what Liv is now. A Dingle.

 _Unlike you_ , his brain reminds him. _Not anymore_.

But he ignores it as he gets to his feet.

“Forgot to take care of something,” he explains to Vic as she casually glances over. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Seb while I pop out for a bit?”

“Yeah, no problem,” she nods at him as he goes to grab his coat. “Oh and Rob?”

He turns to look at her, one arm already through his sleeve, the envelope carrying the tickets now in his mouth.

“Wish her happy birthday from me too.”

::::: 

He’s down the road from the Mill when it hits him what he’s doing and he pauses.

Is he _really_ going to go over to Aaron’s house in the middle of the night just to give him a pair of concert tickets for Liv? Especially after he’d said he’d give him some space? Isn’t this something that could wait until morning?

He takes a deep breath in.

This is crazy.

 _He’s_ crazy.

He lets that breath out.

Aaron may have confirmed that Robert _hadn’t_ been reading into what’s been happening between them lately, but that doesn’t give him the license to do something like… _this_. (Even if he does miss Liv and kind of wants to at least _see_ her for a bit on her big day. They may not have _seemed_ close, but every time he’d planned for his and Aaron’s future, _she’d_ been there, a permanent addition to their lives. Because she’s _his_ sister too now. Or at least _was_.)

So he takes another breath in, letting the cool air wash over him and hopefully bring with it _some_ semblance of common sense. Because as he’s learned the hard way over the past couple of years, his just seems to _fly_ out the window when Aaron Dingle is involved.

 _They do say_ love _makes you blind_ , his inner voice chirps up unhelpfully. _And in my case, deaf and dumb as well._

Having achieved a bit of calm now, he decides to turn this aborted mission into a late night walk. Especially since he both needs to clear his head and never has any time to himself anymore.

Anything to get his mind off Aaron.

::::: 

He’s on his way to the Pavilion, having decided that the open space was more preferable than a turn of the town, when he spots her.

 _Liv_.

His concern grows when he notices that she’s not wearing _any_ jacket — an oddity because, like him, she runs cool and requires at least one extra layer on at all times, much to Aaron’s endless, warm-blooded amusement — _and_ she stumbles, like she’s _drunk_.

 _What are you doing?_ He wonders before he notices her turn slightly left towards the side of the riverbank, instead of the footbridge. And then he notices her eyeing the water like she’s going to jump in.

Robert calls out to her, but she doesn’t seem to really respond and he wonders just how much she might have had to drink — _and_ if there was anything in there.

So he takes off, rushing towards her tinier teenage form. His heart pounding as he sees her come to a halt at the river’s edge, really focusing on the inky black surface of the water beneath him.

“ _Liv!_ ” He calls out once more. And yet again, there’s no response. Only now she’s bending her knees like she’s preparing for a dive.

She doesn’t hear him.

He speeds up, watching as she swings her arms back, ready to jump, only the next second _he’s_ there and his hand is curling around her elbow and she’s being tugged backwards, to safety. Because she’s not expecting him ( _and_ because she’s inebriated), there’s no resistance as she’s pulled back into his arms.

He hugs her tight, his heart jackhammering against his chest as all his pent-up concern gets converted into immense relief.

“Get _off_ ,” she protests a minute later, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. “I’m trying to _swim_!”

He lets her go, but only until she’s an arm’s length away, his hands holding onto her partially covered shoulders. As he suspected, she smells of vodka.

“Liv, what are you _thinking_?!” He asks her, trying not to yell at her and make the situation any worse, even if all he wants to do right now is shake her until she realises just how terrified he was.

“Swimming,” she informs him her words slurring just the slightest.

“You can’t swim when you’re _drunk_!” He tells her, attempting to talk some sense into her.

“Shows what you know,” she tells him, turning to go try again. “I can do _anything_.”

Then it’s like a coin drops, and she realises who it is she’s talking to and she tries to push off. “What are _you_ doing here? I told ya, I _hate_ you.”

He swallows, knowing that even though she means that, he can’t go about obeying the wishes of a clearly decision-impaired 16-year-old.

“Well, I don’t hate _you_ ,” he tells her matter-of-factly. “So I’d prefer it if you don’t go and hurt yourself.”

She can’t seem to form an argument against that so Liv just goes with, “Then let _go_ of me.”

Despite her alcohol-impaired attempt at a death glare he doesn’t. “Only if you promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

“You mean like you sleeping with Rebecca and breaking our family apart?”

He flinches at that painful burn, but he doesn’t disagree. “Yes, exactly.”

She fixes him with one of those searching looks she always does when she doesn’t know if an adult is being entirely truthful with her. Finding his words to be adequate, she nods in agreement. “Yeah, it’s not like I need to now anyway.”

She shivers a little as she says the last part, and Robert notices that the temperature seems to have dropped a little in the past few minutes, leaving her with even less protection against the biting cold.

He lets go of her and immediately shrugs out of his jacket, instantly grateful he’d decided to wear his blue sweater over his dress shirt today. When he moves to drape it on her, he expects her to refuse, but she actually lets him put it on her, sliding her arms into the sleeves, clearly colder than she’d been letting on. As she zips it up, he almost smiles at how massive the article of clothing is on her. Sometimes he really forgets that despite her big mouth, and _even bigger_ attitude (when it comes to him in particular), she’s still a pretty small person.

“Thanks,” Liv mumbles, once she’s all bundled up.

He waits for a beat before he asks, “Now, you want to tell me what’s going on?”

“No,” she answers quickly. “There’s _nothing_ to talk about.”

She looks down when she says that, a look of guilt and something else playing across her face. He takes note of her let-down hair and makeup, letting his natural deductive skills do the rest.

“If there _really_ was nothing to talk about, you wouldn’t be out here in the cold without a jacket,” he tells her gently. “And you’re clearly all dressed up for your birthday party, so excuse me if I don’t believe that you’d _leave_ willingly.”

She doesn’t answer him for a few seconds. And then, “There’s no reason, okay? I just got bored.”

“So you came out to drink by _yourself_?” He asks, not quite buying her story. She’s not the only one good at fishing out lies. “Where're all your friends? Where’s Gabby? Isn’t she usually around, makin’ everything worse?”

He thinks about that day last year when he’d had to track both girls down to Laurel and Ashley’s home, only to find Liv safe and sound in the living room, sitting beside some strange boy he didn’t recognise. His worry and concern then are _nothing_ compared to now.

She looks away at that, like he’s brought up something she doesn’t want to think about.

“Just leave it, _okay_?” She half tells, half yells at him. His brow furrows. There’s a sore point there. He’s tempted to poke at it, but he doesn’t.

So he just nods and says, “Does Aaron know that you’re here? Because he’s probably worried sick wonderin’ where you are right now.”

Liv’s expression softens and turns guilty at that. So Robert swallows nervously and takes a bit of a gamble. “Look, I know you probably won’t believe this, but _I_ still care about you. And honestly, I’m more than a little worried by all this. So if you’re not going to talk to him, _at least_ talk to me. I can’t promise I won’t tell him, but I _can_ promise that I’ll listen.”

She looks up at him when he says that, an unreadable expression on her face. In that moment Robert’s struck by the uncanny resemblance between the brother and sister, but he doesn’t mention it, not wanting to ruin this moment. Instead, he just looks at her, hoping for some sign that she’s forgiven him. All he gets is a grudging nod in return.

Encouraged by this little piece of acceptance, he offers a suggestion that’s partly motivated by the temperature dropping another couple of degrees while they’re standing there and he’s slowly starting to freeze. “Feel like heading home now?”

He gets another nod and feels his spirits rise. Even with Liv barely talking to him, he hadn’t realised just how much he’d missed _this_.

:::::

 

**LIV & ROBERT**

 

“Did you _love_ Rebecca?”

They’ve just crossed the footbridge when she lobs this question at him, her eyes focusing on the ground in front of them.

“Love her?” He repeats carefully as he turns to look at her, confused by her question. “What do you mean?”

“You know, like you loved Aaron?” Liv explains, still not looking at him.

Robert considers the question.

“Well, I haven’t loved _anyone_ the way I love Aaron,” he tells her honestly, not even bothering to hide the fact that he’s not over her brother. And then, because he has this kind of inexplicable hunch, he adds, “I mean, I’ve always been… _attracted_ to loads of different people, _like_ Rebecca, but no one’s even come _close_. Your brother… He changed _everything_ for me.”

He sneaks a look at Liv out of the corner of his eye and sees her nodding as she listens to his answer.

They walk a few more steps. Then he hears her ask, “What does _that_ feel like? You know, _love_.”

That’s when he gets it. This is about a _crush_. It has to be. Why else would she be asking? Suddenly he feels a lot more relieved than he’d been a few minutes ago. If she’s just heartbroken because of someone she likes, well, that’s not as bad a problem as the scenarios he’s been imagining since he found her.

Eager to alleviate her tension — _and_ actually support her — he says, “You know how when sometimes you eat some chocolate cake and then can’t seem to stop? And then later you spend all your time thinking about how great that cake is?”

She slowly nods at that, getting the bones of his analogy.

“It’s like that, only instead of cake, it’s just wanting to spend time with that special person,” Robert explains. “You want to get to know them and hear what they have to say and you can’t stop thinkin’ about them or how you want to kiss them even when they say or do stupid stuff. Or when they make you _so_ mad you can’t think straight.”

He chuckles at his little pun as he focuses on how Aaron makes him feel. “All you want to do is just _be_ with them… and be good _enough_ for them. Because you never quite feel like you deserve to be with them.”

He feels his cheeks get a little heated as he then admits quietly, “And it means you’ll always choose them, _and_ their annoying kid sisters, over yourself.”

There’s a long pause, during which the Mill becomes visible in the distance as they arrive closer.

Liv then asks her next question, “And you’d feel that way about a woman as well?”

There’s a glimmer of _something_ in her question that he can’t quite place. A kind of unsureness he doesn’t quite understand. But he answers her anyway. 

“Technically, _yes_ ,” Robert clarifies, thinking of Katie and Chrissie and how he’d loved them, but they’d never been able to compare — not _really_. “Being bisexual means you can like either men _or_ women. But you still date and fall in love with just one person. Just like everybody else. It’s like if I were ordering from a menu. There are loads of things I can choose from, but I’m only ever going to pick my favourite. Because that’s the one I love. It doesn’t matter if it’s savoury or a desert. All that matters is that _I_ love it.”

He knows it’s not the most perfect metaphor, but it’s all he has right now, and he hopes it’s enough. When he finally braves a look at Liv, she appears to be mulling this new piece of information over.

He wants to ask her just who her crush is on. But he doesn’t think they’re there right now. At least not _yet_.

They continue walking in this hard-earned amiable silence — Liv now stepping a lot closer to him than she had been at the start — as they reach and then turn into the driveway to the house. Only she stops short when she notices the living room lights are still on.

“What’s the matter?” He asks, noting the deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face.

“I _may_ have snuck out,” she tells him, her cheeks growing flushed again as she bites her lip.

“Yeah, I kind of guessed that,” he points out. “There’s _no way_ Aaron would have let you out for a bit of late night _drunk_ swimming. Even if it _is_ your birthday.”

She looks up at him, with a curious expression on her face. “You said that, before. About it being my birthday.”

“Yeah,” he tells her. Now _his_ turn to blush. “Can hardly forget it can I? Not after you made _such_ a big deal about it last year.”

That earns him a semi-amused eye roll. Maybe there’s hope for them yet.

“What?” He asks her playfully like it’s no big deal. “I told you, you’re still my little sister. No way I’d forget _you_ turning the big 1-6.”

He can tell she’s fighting the smile that’s threatening to break out on her face.

“Does that mean you got me a present?” She asks him teasingly, hoping to trip him up.

“Actually, _yes_ ,” he replies, _delighted_ at being able to sidestep her like this. The look of surprise on her face is _more_ than worth it. “Check the inside _left_ pocket?”

Robert nods at the jacket, and Liv follows his instructions, slowly unzipping it a little as she reaches inside. A few seconds later, she pulls out that same envelope he’d opened earlier.

“Happy birthday,” he tells her with a nervous smile.

The teenager slides out the contents of the envelope onto her hand, her eyes widening at the sight of the two tickets on her palm.

“ _Little Mix_ tickets?” She asks incredulously, looking back up at him.

The recognition in her eyes tells him that she’s _also_ thinking about that day after Christmas when she’d been doing some holiday homework on the dining table and he and Aaron had been doing the washing up and one of the band’s songs had come up on the radio and like the consummate music snob he is, Aaron had gone to change the channel — only _both_ Robert and Liv had stopped him because as it turned out they both  _actually_  liked that track. When Aaron had splashed some water at Robert in annoyance, it had started a full on water fight that had left both men soaking wet as Robert purposefully held a squirming, ticklish Aaron close to him, while singing along loudly in his ear to annoy him as Liv continued to splash him further until he conceded that it was indeed a good song. After that, anytime Little Mix played on the radio and Aaron was around, either she or Robert would turn up the volume as a reminder.

He clears his throat. “There’s also a bit about a weekend in London. But you can take Aaron so it’ll be the perfect wind up.”

Robert then gives her another sad smile. Liv responds by looking up at him with a smaller one of her own. It’s accompanied by some unexpected tears that she quickly wipes away. “Thank you.”

“Say that _after_ you and Aaron get back,” He brushes it off affectionately. “Not sure if Mr. Grumpy can survive that much pop music.”

They _both_ laugh at that one.

“ _Alright_ ,” he says, clearing his throat and trying to bring them back on track to the matter at hand — especially with the chill starting to settle in his bones. “How exactly did you get out if _he’s_ in there?”

“Climbed out the window,” Liv admits, her voice small but proud. 

He shakes his head even as he grins. “I _told_ Aaron that’s why you picked the room with the big tree out back.”

Liv blushes at his memory, but sticks out her chin defiantly,  “Yeah, well, serves _you_ right for still letting me get it.”

He raises an eyebrow at her snark. “You _do_ realise that you’re still too drunk to climb back _up_. So it’s not exactly the foolproof plan you thought it was.”

“Are you going to help me or _not_?” She asks him, using her annoyance to cover up her embarrassment at that error.

He’s about to reply to her when his phone starts ringing.

Liv fishes it out of his jacket pocket, the Carly Rae Jepsen song he’s set as his ringtone slicing through the night air, and shattering any calm that has formed between them.

It’s _Aaron_.

:::::

 

**AARON**

 

For a second he thinks he can hear the faint sounds of Robert’s new ringtone in his living room. But then Aaron realises that it’s because he actually _can_ …

… only the sound is coming from _outside_?

What on _Earth_ is Robert Sugden doing _here_?

:::::

 

**LIV & ROBERT**

As the phone continues to ring, Robert and Liv stand there frozen, unsure what to do, or what this could even be regarding.

 _Does he know Liv’s gone? Or is he just calling to finish what he was going to say on_ Friday _?_

The older man finally snaps out of it, swiping to answer. He lifts the phone to his ear to be greeted by a confused, “Robert?”

That’s followed by an even _more_ confused, “ _Liv_?”

They both look up to see Aaron standing in the doorway.

:::::

 

**AARON & LIV & ROBERT**

He can’t believe what he’s seeing. His teenage sister who he’d thought was upstairs in bed is instead standing in their driveway, in what looks like his ex-husband’s coat. And by the looks of it, she’s been crying.

“What’s the matter? Is everything okay?” Aaron asks, springing forward filled with concern. “Liv, what are you doing out of bed? How did you even get out _here_?”

“As much as I love the third degree, mind if we take this inside?” Robert interrupts him.

The younger man looks at him and realises that the blonde is shivering. He nods, still distracted by the surprising sight in front of him.

As soon as both Liv and Robert are inside the Mill’s much warmer living room, they’re both suddenly able to speak again.

“I just came over to give Liv her birthday gift,” Robert says, _mostly_ telling the truth of the matter.

At the same time Liv blurts out, “ _I_ called him. To talk.”

They both shut up at the same time and turn to look at each other, before looking back toward Aaron and attempting to look innocent. For his part, the bearded man regards both of them with one of his long, inscrutable gazes.

“Liv, mind if I talk to Robert for a minute?” His tone makes it clear that he doesn’t want an audience for this.

Cowed by her brother’s sudden sternness, Liv nods. She shrugs out of Robert’s jacket and hands it back to him, mumbling “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” the older man tells her with a small smile as he takes it back from her. He can see that she’s still holding on to the envelope with the tickets.

Liv awkwardly takes a slow, deliberate step back, giving him a goodbye nod, before turning and heading up the spiral staircase. He almost tells her to watch out, knowing how slippery they are, but seeing the way she rushes up them, he decides to hold his tongue. Besides, there’s another Dingle who requires his attention right now.

:::::

 

**AARON & ROBERT**

“Thanks for bringing her home,” he tells Robert as soon as he’s sure Liv’s out of hearing distance. He sighs as he adds, “I didn’t even _know_ she’d snuck out.”

“Yeah, well I really was bringing over her present when I ran into her,” the older man tells him. When Aaron’s eyes flick to his face, he finds his cheeks growing warm. He clears his throat. “What exactly happened? I thought there was supposed to be a party.”

Aaron purses his lips, considering what he can and cannot say without betraying his sister’s confidence. 

At his silence, Robert continues, “Liv didn’t exactly _want_ to tell me, and that’s fine. But I just want to make sure she’s going to be alright. She was pretty drunk and about to go swimming in the _river_ when I found her.”

There’s a shocked expression on Aaron’s face, and he growls in response, “I’m going to _kill_ her.”

“Who? Liv?” Robert asks surprised at the other man’s reaction. “Bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“No. _Gabby_ ,” Aaron says, correcting him in his annoyance.

He realises his mistake a second later and lets out a deep sigh, both frustrated with himself and exhausted by the situation they’re in. Having already spilt the first part, he does some speedy mental math ( _He was family_ , and _He’s going to find out anyhow, most of the village heard_ , and perhaps most importantly, _He’ll understand_ ) before he decides to reveal the next. “Gaby told everyone that Liv was cheatin’ on her with Jacob.”

“Well, that’s not so bad,” Robert says slowly, shrugging off what he'd kind of suspected was a teen love triangle gone awry.

Aaron pauses, letting him settle before he allows the other shoe to drop. “ _Then_ she accused Liv of ‘expermentin’ and said she’d kissed _her_.”

The second the words sink in, Robert goes from 0 to livid, _fast_.

“So she _outed_ her? In front of _everybody_?”

There’s a barely restrained fury in the older man’s voice, and a kind of protectiveness emerging in his demeanour that Aaron had almost forgotten about. Right now though, he’s happy to see it — and _more_ than glad to finally have someone on his side who’s as outraged as he is on his sister’s behalf, rather than just surprised that she might be even questioning her sexuality. (Alex hadn’t said it, but Aaron had almost half expected him to. In fact, he’d even been expecting it from the usually obtuse, but surprisingly sensitive, Gerry.)

The younger man nods. “That’s why the runaway routine, I s’pose. I _tried_ talkin’ to her. But you can see how _that_ went.”

“That explains it, then,” Robert says, his voice a bit calmer now, though his temper remains idling under his skin.

Aaron snaps to, narrowing his eyes as he looks at the blonde man. “What do you mean?”

“On our way here, Liv was askin’ me some questions,” Robert tells him, before blushing slightly. “About _you_ and Rebecca, and me bein’ bisexual.”

“Oh.” Aaron replies, twin streams of relief and disappointment running through him. “Guess she really _did_ want to talk to you.”

Robert recognises the emotions on his ex-husband’s face for what they are. “That’s only because I was the person who just happened to be there. You’re her _older brother_. It might take some time for her to come to you. Especially if she's still, you know, experimentin'. I bet _she_ barely knows how she feels.”

Aaron smiles at that, Robert’s words making him feel a little better. But then he remembers his failed attempts earlier in the night and that smile falls off his face.

“But what do I tell her when she _is_ ready?” He asks. “Other than ‘It’s okay’ and ‘I understand’? Because all _I’ve_ managed to do so far is completely freeze over.”

He runs a hand through his dark curls as he thinks. “Maybe I should just have Mum or Paddy talk to her.”

“You know that’s _mad_ , right?” Robert asks him, looking at him like he’s grown a second head. “ _You’re_ the only person she needs right now.”

“What? So she can sneak out of the house and go get drunk again?” The younger man asks him pointedly. “Yeah. Because I’m _great_ for that.”

“This is just the _first_ part of whatever she's going through,” Robert tells him gently. “You remember what it was like when _you_ were comin’ out? You half beat Paddy to death.  _I_ refused to say the word ‘bisexual’ for _years_.” 

Aaron grimaces at the memory, but he nods as he remembers the pain and the shame and the sheer level of self-denial he’d felt back then.

“But you still got through it,” the blonde man continues. “That’s what Liv needs right now. For _you_ to show her she can get past all this hard stuff and figure it out in her own time. Because yeah it’s a struggle right now, but it _is_ going to get much better. _If_ she lets it. Just make sure she knows that she has _you_ to turn to. _And_ if she’ll have it, me.”

Aaron nods again, letting the words sink in. He gives Robert a smile, grateful for his support. 

“Fatherhood’s changed ya,” he teases. “You’re actually _good_ at givin’ advice now.”

Robert rolls his eyes in response. “I’ve _always_ given good advice. _You_ just never listen.” 

They stand there for a minute, just smiling at each other; Aaron’s hands in his pockets and Robert continuing to hold his jacket in his.

“Thanks for the talk,” Aaron tells him, genuinely meaning it. “I just… I wasn’t prepared for _this_.”

“Is anyone _ever_?” Robert asks him, sharing a knowing expression on his face as he flashes back to his own tumultuous coming out. He shakes his head with a shudder. “And don’t mention it. Consider it payback for all the times you’ve helped me with Seb. Trust me. I’ll take a confused, possibly bisexual teenager over a fussy newborn _any day_. 

“Who knows, you might just have one on your hands,” Aaron jokes, thinking of a young Seb nervously trying to break the news to his probably  _more_ -than understanding dad. 

Robert laughs wryly. “ _Finally_ , a part of fatherhood I’ll _actually_ be prepared for. Only 13 years to go.”

They both chuckle at that, falling into that easy camaraderie that’s at the baseline of any and all their interactions.

As the moment stretches just a _beat_ longer, Robert gives him a slightly wistful look, turning towards the door and saying, “Speaking of Seb… I should probably get back. Let Vic get some sleep.”

Aaron nods and walks him to the door, which he opens wide, allowing Robert to step out. “Thanks. Again.” 

“I'm just glad Liv's doing okay,” Robert responds warmly. “And that I could help.” 

He turns to leave.  

“Robert?” Aaron says, causing the other man to stop in his tracks and look back. “Should I be worried about this birthday present?” 

All he gets in response is a loud and slightly prolonged burst of laughter as the other man just continues to walk away. 

:::::

 

**AARON & LIV**

 

There’s a knock on her door, and a minute later Aaron enters, carrying the black hoodie from that morning in his hands.

“You left this downstairs,” he says as he goes to drape it on the back of the chair by her desk. 

Liv looks up at him from where she’s sitting in her bed. “Are you mad?”

“No, of course not,” Aaron tells her reassuringly as he comes and joins her on it. “I just wish you’d come to me instead of running off and getting drunk.”

She isn’t surprised Robert had told Aaron. He’d said as much when he’d walked her home. It probably didn't help that she smelled a little like vodka right now either. 

“Yeah, well I didn’t want to talk about it,” she tells him, still firm on that point. "Still don't." 

He nods in understanding and they then sit in silence for a few more seconds as Aaron works on choosing his next words more carefully.

Finally, he settles on what he wants to say. 

“You know, I kissed Adam once.”

“You _what_?” She says, shocked by the reveal. " _Adam_?" 

“What? It wasn't half bad,” Aaron tells her with a good-natured shrugged, the incident well enough in the past to become an almost-fond memory.

“No,” Liv makes a face. “He’s your best mate.” 

“Yeah, well we’d just got in a car accident and I was pretty relieved we’d survived,” He explains, still able to remember the adrenaline that had been pumping through him in the moment. “Plus, I was still figurin’ things out at the time. Couldn’t tell if he was just my best friend or if I liked him like...  _that_.”  

She doesn’t say anything. And she doesn’t look at him either, keeping her eyes focused on the bedspread in front of her.

“All I’m sayin’ is, I _get it_ ,” Aaron tells her, remembering what Robert had advised him. “All this, it’s… _confusin_ ’. But it _does_ get a little easier if you have someone you can talk to. Someone who gets it. So, when you're ready to have someone listen, or just answer any questions, I'm here for ya.  _Always_." 

Liv remains quiet, but she does nod at him, which he takes as an affirmative that she'll come to him in her own time.

Having gotten through what he'd known would be the hardest part of it, he lets out a sigh of relief and decides to change the topic.

“So, you gonna tell me how exactly you got out?” He asks, giving her a questioning, but no less playful look. “Let me guess… You climbed that big tree outside.”

He nods in the direction of her bedroom window. The curtains are currently drawn, but they both know what’s out there.

She looks surprised at his having figured it out. But it soon turns into a look of stubborn pride at her own actions. 

He smirks knowingly. “You know, I told Robert you might do that. But _he_ just said this was your house and that you should have a say in where ya sleep.”

She gives him a confused look as she finally speaks “He _what_?” 

Aaron can tell she’s surprised by this new piece of information. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but he really does care about ya." 

Liv is silent for a minute, like she’s thinking about something. She then reaches over to her bedside and picks up an envelope that she then hands to Aaron. He takes it from her. 

“It’s my present.”

He slides out the tickets and reads what they say. He then reads the accompanying reservation details, eyebrows raised the entire time. Aaron looks over at her.  

“And I thought _I_ got you a great gift,” he quips. 

“I _said_ I loved your gift,” Liv informs him, before rolling her eyes at his expecting more praise. 

He taps the tickets against his hand as he considers what to do. "How about I see if I can take that weekend off? Have a bit of a birthday do-over."

Liv's face lights up and she nods.

"I'd love that," she confirms shyly.  

"Good." He says, getting to his feet. "Now get some rest. I still have some tidyin' up to take care of downstairs." 

He smiles at her before leaning forward to give her a kiss on her forehead. As his lips meet her head, he feels her arms wrap around him in a hug. He returns the gesture, squeezing firmly as he wills every bit of reassurance as he can toward her. 

"Aaron," she whispers, her voice carrying just the slightest bit of a wobble. He feels a little dampness on his shoulder. 

"Yeah?" He replies, just as softly, feeling his own tears rush to his eyes. 

"Thanks." 

He doesn't say anything. Just grips her a little tighter.  

 _Yeah_ , he thinks, savouring the moment.  _Everything is going to be just fine._

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually very nervous about writing and posting this piece because it's definitely one of the more personal things I've written. (I'm still a little stressed by Friday's episode and kind of wrote this to deal with those feelings/ to fulfill my desire to have Robert be involved in this storyline from the beginning and see Liv and Aaron hug it out. Because I'm impatient for those sweet, sweet Roblivion feels.) In terms of talking about the coming out process and discussing bisexuality, I basically just used a mixture of what's happened to all three characters on the show, as well as my own personal feelings. (So apologies if any of that doesn't sound quite right to you, but it's how it feels/felt to me. Also I really just couldn't come up with a more original/non-food related metaphor.)
> 
> For the purposes of keeping this largely canon compliant, I didn't actually touch on asexuality, because other than maybe Robert, I don't think Liv or Aaron know the word for that yet. (Robert proved he might be familiar with asexuality when he attempted to define LGBTQIA for Vanessa in David's Shop during her brief coming out arc.) So at this point, everyone is just going off of what's happened on the show, and what they know. I actually had finished outlining a multi-chapter fic focusing on Liv's coming out, but I've since shelved it because the show actually wound up doing some of stuff I was going to do (Gabby getting jealous and Jacob being supportive, but minus the public outing). I may still do one where Robert kind of gently nudges Liv in the right direction, but we'll see, time and my muse permitting. 
> 
> I also don't think this is my strongest writing to date, but I was just so stressed at various points of this, that I'm still hesitant to go back and touch those up. But hopefully, the general emotions and feelings that I was going for in various places came through. If you have any other thoughts, comments, questions, or concerns, please leave me a comment, or just hit me up over on Tumblr under rustandruin. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, and Happy Almost Thursday Everyone!


End file.
